A lobby group of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) is working on an alternative crypto regulation bill, which will eliminate supposed contradictions in the state draft law “On Digital Financial Assets,” Forklog reported Thursday, September 14. The alternative bill will be developed by a group of high-ranked Russian managers such as billionaire Vladimir Potanin, owner of the nickel and palladium mining and smelting company Nornickel, and Viktor Vekselberg, head of the Russian innovation fund Skolkovo. Both are listed among the top ten richest businessmen in the country by Forbes. The expert council for the lobby group is …

The Union Cabinet of India has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the collaborative research of distributed ledger technology (DLT), local news outlet ANI reported September 12. The Union Cabinet is the supreme decision-making body in India consisting of cabinet ministers and led by the prime minister, Narendra Modi. The MOU, which is a cooperative initiative under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism, aims to foster better understanding of DLT and define areas where the technology can be deployed to improve operational efficiency. The research will be jointly conducted by the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) and banks from …

An official from Russia’s central bank has revealed that the bank has recently conducted a "successful" experimental Initial Coin Offering (ICO), as cited by local news agency TASS Tuesday, September 11. Ivan Semagin, deputy director of the Financial Market Development Department for the Bank of Russia, told TASS: “Within a framework of the central bank’s sandbox, we conducted an experimental ICO on the basis of our existing infrastructure. Technically it was a success, but we still have a lot of legal issues”. TASS writes that Sberbank and the National Settlement Depository were set to test an experimental ICO, issued by …

A special representative of the Russian president said that the country is not yet ready for the circulation and issuance of cryptocurrencies, according to local news agency RIA Monday, September 10. The president’s Special Representative on digital and technological development Dmitry Peskov explained his view on the state of digital assets in an interview with RIA: “From the start, we have not legally suppressed blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and are trying to bring them into a normative space. But the government must give fair warning, that there is a high risk of ending up with an MMM 2.0 [famous pyramid scheme …

The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece has ruled to extradite alleged BTC-e owner Alexander Vinnik to Russia to face several cyber fraud charges, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reports Tuesday, September 4. The formal decision on extradition to Russia will be issued September 14, coming into force the same day. During the actual hearing, the Supreme Court will also consider France’s request on the alleged BTC-e owner’s extradition. According to RIA, Vinnik agreed with his extradition to Russia. “[This case] is now up to politicians and their will,” his attorney Timofey Musatov stated. The U.S., France, and …

Alleged former owner of crypto exchange BTC-e Alexander Vinnik was indicted and subjected to a "fake" interrogation by French prosecutors on Tuesday, August 28, his attorney Timofey Musatov told Russian news outlet Izvestiya Thursday, August 30. Musatov claims that his client Vinnik was brought to a court in Greece where he is currently awaiting extradition and then informed about official charges in France. Musatov also told Izvestiya that French prosecutors attempted to hold a "fake" interrogation without informing his lawyers, which he insists was a violation of Vinnik’s rights. He further explains that under Greek law only local security forces …

The Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service has ordered an analytical tool to track crypto transactions, especially those in Bitcoin (BTC), BBC News Russia reported Wednesday, August 29. By the end of 2018, the new application will be included in a condensed monitoring system for the organization, whose main alleged aim is to confront fraud schemes and prevent terrorism funding. The tool is expected to unite fragmented information on fraud and link different cases. The winner of the government contract to develop such a monitoring program was the Moscow-based Institute for Information Security and Analysis (SPI). The SPI had previously developed …

The Russian state pension fund (PFR), the country’s largest social service, has recently suggested implementing blockchain technology in labor relations, local news outlet Izvestiya reports Wednesday, August 29, citing the organization’s press center. The fund plans to introduce smart contracts to be used as employment contracts between employers and employees. Such agreements could be made in any of the numerous state units providing public services — the net that reportedly covers up to 97% Russia’s population. Officials told reporters that they hope blockchain technology as it would be used in the scheme would help to avoid unnecessary paperwork and to …

Russian air carrier S7 Airlines has partnered with state-owned oil giant Gazprom Neft to use blockchain-based smart contracts for aircraft fuelling, a press release confirmed Friday, August 24. S7, which has developed several blockchain use cases in the past two years, will now use the technology to increase efficiency of fuel delivery and payment, as well as in the refuelling process at airports. The partnership features Gazprom Neft’s dedicated aviation refuelling subsidiary Gazpromneft-Aero. “Using blockchain technologies in reciprocal accounting and settlements between aviation companies and fuel operators gives new impetus to the development of the entire aviation industry,” Gazpromneft-Aero CEO …

Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs is reportedly considering establishing criminal liability for unregistered crypto operations, local media outlet Izvestia reported August 23. According to documents acquired by Izvestia, the interior ministry of Russia is developing an amendment of legislation that concerns legalizing only registered operations with open source cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and others. The ministry has suggested that in order to conduct legal transactions in crypto, persons or entities should acquire a “mandatory registration with state authorities conducting financial and tax regulation.” The initiative is reportedly coming from the Russia’s interior ministry’s Main Directorate for Drugs …

North Korean hackers have infected a cryptocurrency exchange with malware for both Windows and macOS for reportedly the first time, Russian internet security company Kaspersky Lab announced Thursday, August 23. In Kaspersky’s report, the company reveals the malware — dubbed “AppleJeus” — made its way into the systems of an unnamed exchange after an employee downloaded a “tainted” app. Kaspersky now believes the app came from a fake developer with fake security certificates in a major operation by North Korean hacker collective Lazarus Group. The malware aimed to steal cryptocurrency funds, Kaspersky claims, in what marks the latest in a …

A Russian independent electoral watchdog is trialing a blockchain-based electronic voting system, local news platform Tass reports August 17. The non-profit Association of Independent Public Observers, dubbed "National Public Monitoring" (NOM), announced the pilot at a press conference in Moscow on Friday. NOM federal coordinator Roman Kolomystev, told reporters: “As part of our congress, we are launching a pilot electronic voting system built on a blockchain system." The inaugural Russian Congress of Public Observers was held on the initiative of NOM, alongside the Russian Fund for Free Elections and the Association of Lawyers of the Russian Federation, Tass reports. Other …